The Rise and Persistence of the Political Glass Ceiling for Women

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Transcript of The Rise and Persistence of the Political Glass Ceiling for Women

Barbara Palmer & Dennis Simon The Rise and Persistenceof the Political Glass Ceiling 1916 & 1922 Women breaking onto the scene in the House & Senate MoneyMachine Name Recognition FrankingPrivilege Incumbents Challengers 1916before women could vote Jeannette Rankin Rebecca Latimer Felton appointed 1922served for two days Hattie Carraway appointed 1931reelected twice Not a slow & steady climb, consistent increase in number of female candidates would not begin until the early 1970s Women in the Electoral Arena Margaret Chase Smith first elected in own rightserved for 24 years1948 Redistricting OpenSeats Women enter the arenain an era when opportunities were the lowest. Reelection Win General Election Win Primary Seek Nomination of Party (aka Run in Primary) 1992 YEAR of the WOMAN Double number in House47 Women elected to the House (only 23 incumbents)

Tripling number in Senate2 in 1990...6 in 1992 Record Number of Women Ran and Won Thank you.

Questions? District lines redrawn following 1990 censusLast year members could take advantage of loophole in campaign finance regulations

As a result...Record number of Open Seats Why? Campaign EnvironmentFavored WomenCandidates Mobilizing eventin Thomas-HillHearings Unusually HighNumber ofOpen Seats "Not just how to win next time, how to win consistently" Position in committee hierarchy determined by seniority Rise inCAREERISM Influence in policy-making process Prestige among colleagues Early 20th century Congress236 Democrats20 2 women:CA, ME, WA Democrats130 1/3 Current Members House203 Senate33 Republicans73 Republicans13 Breaking it Down into the Numbers 1971-Reed v. Reed

1973-Roe v. Wade

1991-President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas as Justice Supreme Court Influences 8 BothHouses Reaching the House The 1950's 1956 1958 2002 March (cc) image by jantik on Flickr high point in candidate volume: 53 in primaries, 29 won primaries, 15 elected decrease in candidate volume: 40 in primaries, 19 won primaries, 10 elected The 1960's 1961 1963 2002 March (cc) image by jantik on Flickr President JFK created Commission on Status of Women; appointed First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as Chair Betty Friedan toured the country with her book, The Feminine Mystique 1964 Congress passed Civil Rights Act banning discrimination in employment 1968 Protest of Miss America Pageant; first time feminist movement would receive mass media coverage The 1970's 1970-1972 1971 2002 March (cc) image by jantik on Flickr Equal Rights Amendment made for a spike in media coverage of women's issues Founding of National Women's Caucus 1974 2002 March (cc) image by jantik on Flickr Women's Campaign Fund created to provide financial support directly to women candidates 1970-74 Primaries: 42 to 105Winning Primaries: 24 to 43Winning General: 12 to 18-Dawn of Women's Movement Reaching the Senate...Putting it into Perspective 15/33 were interim appointments made by governors8/15 appointments after husband's death Real increase in number of female senatorial candidates: late 1970s and early 1980s Cause:-EMILY's List (PAC)-Thomas-Hill hearings House203 Congress236 Senate33 8 BothHouses 11,637 9,775 1,232 630 Comparing the Numbers